Gifted hurdler, 16, crowned SA champ
Star Western Province athlete, Naeem Jack, 16, from Ottery, walked away with double gold from Athletics South Africa’s Youth and Junior national championships, held at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria a fortnight ago.
A former pupil at Mondale High, he spent last season with Boland Athletics as he transferred to Paarl Boys’ High School, before returning to Western Province this season.
The lanky teen lived up to his reputation as the one to beat, winning gold in the under-18 100m final in 10.36 and in the 110m hurdles in 13.10.
According to World Athletics’ (formerly IAAF - International Amateur Athletic Federation) latest stats, American Christian Miller holds the 100m record as the fastest under-18 with a time of 10.06, set in July 2023.
Australia-born French athlete Sasha Zhoya holds the world under-18 record in the 110m hurdles with a time of 12.87.
Clearly, there’s some work left to do, but for now, he’s the SA champion in his division, says coach Paul Jacobus, who has worked with Naeem and other record-breakers, including Lamicah Adamson who won gold at the Western Cape championships in Paarl and at the SA Primary Schools national championships, in Limpopo earlier this year.
Jacobus, a former physical educator at Parkhurst Primary School in Mitchell’s Plain, now based at Curro Primary Durbanville, is the founder of Elite Athletes Sprints and Hurdles Academy, an organisation dedicated to developing the next generation of speedsters in Cape Town.
“We came into the competition as the underdog in both events,”said Jacobus, “as Gauteng North’s Matodzi Ndou broke the 110m hurdle record last year. But God had other plans…” he said.
Happy to finish the season on a high note, Naeem will now compete at the national senior championships later this month, before taking a short break and then resume his off-season training, Jacobus said.
“Winter training is always the toughest, but it’s something I enjoy because I know what I will get out of it,” said Naeem, a natural speedster who knows all too well that hurdles require a technical know-how that regular sprinters don’t have to deal with.
“Not everyone is gifted with the ability to do hurdles and fortunately I have that gift of being able to do hurdles,”he said. “It's something I enjoy doing because I’ve been doing it since the word go.”
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